"I have some writings that were done at the time that the historical marker was placed by people who knew him. People took pilgrimages to come to Ripton to see this great sage, this great poet and meet with him and work with him. But the people who lived right in town, protected him because he was their guy."

Despite a quiet Thursday morning, scattered showers and thunderstorms bubble up mid-afternoon into this evening. A few storms may be strong to severe, particularly over northern New York and western Vermont.

"It is the original circulation desk. You can see it's set up from back in the day when the stacks were closed and you weren't allowed to go in and find a book yourself. It's set up so that the librarian would ask what you needed and go back."